After two months of dealing with a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase could now list crypto features in the US after almost two years of waiting for application approval from the National Futures Association (NFA) to operate a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM).
The announcement was made Wednesday (August 16), with the firm saying the approval was a "critical milestone" reaffirming their commitment to operate a regulated and compliant business. Coinbase added the approval would make them the most trusted and secure crypto-native platform for its customers.
With this announcement, Coinbase is set to compete with Binance.
The approval also made Coinbase the first crypto-focused platform in the US to offer regulated and leveraged crypto futures alongside traditional spot trading, CoinDesk reported.
"Offering US investors access to secure and regulated crypto futures is key to unlocking growth and enabling broader participation in the crypto economy," Coinbase CEO Andrew Sears said.
The NFA is a self-regulatory organization with a designation from the federal derivatives regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Coinbase first applied to join the NFA in September 2021.
The role of FCMs is to buy or sell futures contracts, similar to that of a market maker.
